


to explore strange new worlds

by starkly



Series: you don't have to do this alone [26]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Star Trek Fusion, F/M, Love Triangles, M/M, Multi, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-28
Updated: 2018-01-28
Packaged: 2019-03-10 18:57:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13507743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starkly/pseuds/starkly
Summary: Vulcan Pepper asks crewmate Tony for help courting a human, who just so happens to be his best friend. The problem? Tony's got a big crush on Pepper, and on top of that, Rhodey's being awfully cagey about who he wants this 'secret admirer' of his to be.





	to explore strange new worlds

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for NaNoWriMo 2017 and posted at [dailyironfamily](http://dailyironfamily.tumblr.com/post/167933487725/day-26-sci-fi-au) on tumblr. This fic was proofread before being posted here but is otherwise unchanged.
> 
> Day twenty-six: sci-fi AU. Except I took the easy way and made it a Star Trek AU. Thankfully you don’t need to know anything about Star Trek except what Vulcans are to read this because it’s mostly just relationship drama. You know, the good part of Star Trek.

“Hey, Stark! Your girlfriend’s here to see you!”

Puzzled, Tony crawls out from underneath a control panel to see who Ensign Parker is talking about, because unless something happened he wasn’t aware of, he doesn’t have a girlfriend. Lieutenant T’Pos is standing at attention near the entrance to Engineering, and he sighs and picks himself off the floor, dusting off his uniform as he makes his way over to her.

“Get back to work, Ensign!” he shouts to Parker, who laughs and leans in closer to Ensign Leeds presumably to gossip and not to get back to work.

“Do you need assistance controlling your subordinates, Lieutenant Stark?” the Vulcan standing by the door asks in lieu of a greeting. She doesn’t smile when she sees him, but that’s to be expected.

“I’ve told you a thousand times, Lieutenant, you can call me Tony when I’m off duty.”

“And yet it seems like you are never off duty, sir. Hence why I came looking for you here, instead of your quarters or the mess hall.”

Tony sighs and says, “Right, well, what can I do for you, Pepper?”

Her expression doesn’t change save for the slight furrow of her brow that always appears whenever someone uses that nickname for her. “I was hoping you could help me with a…personal problem.”

Tony blinks in surprise. Pepper never spoke about personal anythings with him, or anyone else, he imagines. “Sure, uh, let’s go somewhere a little more private?”

“Here is adequate,” she says, but lets Tony usher her out of engineering and into a corridor with less people.

“Is something wrong?” he asks once they’re alone.

“Quite the contrary. I require your assistance courting a friend of yours.”

“Courting, like―you want to date?” Tony can’t hide the shock from his voice. He’s known Pepper since they both started on the USS  _Resilient_  at the same time all those years ago, and she’d never shown any interest in being romantic with anyone. Much to his disappointment.

“That would be the human word for it, yes. I was hoping you could give me some advice on courting Lieutenant Rhodes.”

That was an even deeper blow than the first. Vulcan-human pairs weren’t absolutely unheard of, and everyone in Starfleet knew of Commander Spock. But Tony had always consoled himself with the assumption that she wasn’t interested in humans, and that was why she hadn’t shown any interest in him. Apparently, she just wasn’t interested in him, period.

“Oh! Yeah, sure,” he says after an awkward pause, realizing she’s waiting for a response. “Rhodey’s amazing, you have great taste. I’m sure he’ll say yes.”

“Lieutenant Rhodes is an excellent helmsman, and very handsome,” she agrees with a nod. “Though I do not think you can guarantee his answer will be a positive one.”

“Nah, come on, you’re amazing too,” Tony says, smile slightly strained. “You’d be perfect together.”

“Thank you, Lieu―Tony,” she corrects herself, giving him a slight bow. “You are an ‘amazing’ person as well.”

 _Hardly_ , Tony thinks to himself, but out loud he just says, “You’re off duty now, right? Let’s go get drinks and gossip about Rhodey. We’ll have a plan whipped up in no time.”

* * *

Tony spends the evening telling Pepper about the kinds of things Rhodey likes and traditional human methods of courting. She listens to a list of gifts that are considered romantic, a look of consternation on her face.

“Would it not be easier just to tell him my feelings?” she asks when he’s done listing things off.

“Sure, if you want to come on too strong,” he says. “You’ve got to scope him out first, see if he’s interested.”

Pepper continues to frown. “Wouldn’t discovering his interest also be easier if I asked?”

“And scare him off? You guys live on the same ship, Pep, if you make things awkward you can’t just avoid him.”

“I would not just avoid him,” she protests, but she seems to consider his words anyway. “All right. I will test the proverbial waters with some of these methods you’ve explained. Thank you, Tony. I do appreciate the help.”

Tony tries to smile, and knocks back the rest of his drink. “Of course. It’s no problem.”

* * *

A couple days later, Rhodey comes up to him as he’s heading back to his room after his shift and says,

“Hey, Tony! You’ve got to come see this.”

Curious, Tony follows him down the hall to his quarters instead, and when Rhodey keys open the door, a startled laugh escapes him. The room is filled with flowers of all colors, on the desk and the shelves and the bed, even some on the floor. Rhodey steps through them to pick up something else from his desk, showing it to Tony.

 _From a secret admirer_ , it says, and Tony has to stifle another laugh. Oh no, he hadn’t realized Pepper would go for the most dramatic possible option when he was giving her suggestions.

“Rhodey, you handsome bastard,” he says, punching him lightly in the arm.

“Do you…I mean, any guesses who it’s from?” Rhodey asks him, looking oddly expectant. Why would he assume Tony knew? Aside from the fact that Tony actually does know who his secret admirer is, but Rhodey doesn’t know that.

Tony shrugs and plays dumb. “No clue. Has anyone been trying to get cozy with you lately?”

Rhodey sets the card back down on the desk with a frown. “Not that I’ve noticed.”

Hmm, that’s no good. He’d have to try and get Pepper to ask Rhodey to dinner or something. Even just to grab a cup of coffee.

“I’ll keep an ear out for any gossip,” Tony promises, then lights up as if suddenly thinking up a brilliant idea, “Hey, why don’t you ask Lieutenant T’Pos if she’s heard anything?”

“Is this an ear joke? Because that’s not very nice.”

“What? No! I mean, she’s in communications, you know how those people love to gossip. Maybe she heard something.”

“Pepper doesn’t seem like the gossipy type,” Rhodey says, skeptical.

“Oh, trust me, there’s more there than meets the eye,” Tony says. “It wouldn’t hurt to ask.”

Rhodey doesn’t look entirely convinced, but finally he nods. “Okay, I’ll try. Thanks, Tones.”

“Anytime,” Tony replies, and it almost sounds entirely sincere.

* * *

“So when I said replicate him some flowers, I didn’t mean every flower in the database,” Tony tells Pepper the next time he sees her, the two of them alone in an elevator.

“You did not specify which kinds he liked,” Pepper answers, looking at him like it’s entirely his fault. “So I thought, better safe than sorry, as they say.”

“Luckily, I think he found it kind of charming. Maybe just reel it back a little next time?”

She looks thoughtful, then nods. The elevator slides to a stop, and Tony adds quickly before the doors open and he walks out,

“Oh, and I told him to ask you if you heard any related gossip, ask him to get coffee if he does!”

* * *

“So Pepper doesn’t know anything about the flowers,” Rhodey tells him that evening. Tony looks up from the datapad he’s reading and tries not to sound too excited as he says,

“Oh? That’s unfortunate.”

“She was really insistent about me drinking coffee, though,” Rhodes says, frowning slightly. “So I gave in and had a cup and she just sort of watched me drink it.”

Tony wants to groan and put his head on the table. He clearly should have been more specific in his instructions. “Probably a Vulcan thing,” he says instead with a shrug.

“Maybe.” Rhodey pushes his food around his plate with his fork, silent for a moment. “Hey, are you sure you don’t know who put those flowers in my room?”

Tony tries not to sound too nervous as he says, “Um, yeah. Why do you ask?”

Rhodey shrugs, setting his fork down. “I just thought, maybe it’s someone in our friend circle?”

Tony stares back down at his datapad so his face doesn’t give anything away. “Oh, maybe. Who do you think it is?” Rhodey doesn’t answer for a long moment, and Tony finally looks up to see what the problem is, but Rhodey’s just staring at him. “Jim? You okay?”

Rhodey finally looks away, breaking his gaze. “Sorry. No, I’ve got no idea. That’s why I’m asking.”

Tony smiles encouragingly, nudging Rhodey’s leg under the table with his foot. “Hey, we’ll figure it out! They’re probably a super babe but are really shy.”

Rhodey laughs and shakes his head, expression brightening a little. “Sure, Tony. You keep telling me that.”

* * *

This time Tony tracks down Pepper after her shift is done so they can talk.

“You’re only going to hear me say this once, but you were right and I was wrong.”

Pepper tilts her head slightly. “Why would you only say it once when it is true more often than that?”

“Nope, don’t distract me right now. Flowers and coffee dates aren’t going to work. You should just ask him directly.”

“Would this not be off-putting for a human?” she asks.

Tony sighs. “I think my brilliant plan’s just making Rhodey anxious. I should’ve known, he’s not good with surprises.”

Pepper doesn’t say anything and her expression doesn’t change, and Tony eyes her warily. He nearly jumps, startled, when she finally does speak. “I appreciate the honesty. I will go ask him now.”

“What, now, like, right now?” She’s already turning to walk down the corridor, and Tony follows after her.

“I believe he will be in his quarters at this time,” she says, unperturbed. “Would you please come with me?”

The last thing Tony wants to see is his best friend hooking up with his crush, but Pepper looks expectantly at him, and he just nods and keeps following her.

“Maybe you should slow down, think this out,” he tries as they make their way to the proper deck. “Don’t rush into things.”

“It was your advice that I be direct.”

“Yeah, but my advice has been pretty bad so far.”

“I trust you, Lieutenant. Your advice has come from a place of caring.”

That flusters Tony long enough that he has nothing else to say until they come to a stop in front of Rhodey’s door. Pepper doesn’t hesitate to knock.

When Rhodey answers the door it’s clear he’d been sleeping very recently, but he looks at the pair of them in surprise. “Tony? Lieutenant T’Pos?”

“May we enter?” Pepper asks, and Rhodey looks over at Tony, confused.

Tony just shrugs, but Rhodey steps back and lets them into his room. The place is still full of the flowers Pepper had snuck in, but the bed and desk chair had been cleared.

“Is something wrong?” Rhodey asks once everyone’s in. Tony leans back against the closed door, feeling awkward.

Pepper, however, seems to feel no such thing, because she gestures at the edge of Rhodey’s bed. “Please, sit. I have a question to ask.”

Slowly, Rhodey sits and waits. Pepper clears her throat, fiddling with the cuff of her uniform for a moment.

“I like you very much, James. I had hoped to use human methods of courtship to make that clear, but I’m afraid I did not understand as much as I’d hoped.”

“Oh, the flowers…” He glances around the room, then over at Tony, glaring. “You knew who did it.”

Tony winces. “I couldn’t just blab. She came to me in confidence.”

“I appreciate the help Tony provided, but I feel I must be more transparent,” Pepper admits. “Would you be interested in fostering a relationship of that sort?”

Rhodey doesn’t say anything for a long, painful moment. Tony forces himself to stay silent and not interrupt. Finally, Rhodey responds with an answer Tony wouldn’t have expected in a thousand years.

“You’re wonderful, Pepper. I mean it. But I have a confession too.” He takes a deep breath and looks over at Tony. “I’d kind of hoped the flowers were from you.”

“Me?” Tony squeaks, flabbergasted. “You―you like me?”

“Since the Academy,” Rhodey says.

“Well, this is awkward,” Pepper says after another moment of silence. “I was always under the impression that Lieutenant Stark had some sort of crush on me.”

Tony silently prays for an asteroid to hit the ship and put him out of his misery right now.

“You knew?” Rhodey asks her, eyebrows raised, because of course Tony had never shut up about Pepper around him, and oh god, he’d kept talking about his crush on another person while his best friend was pining for him. For years!

“For some time now,” Pepper says. “I was under the impression it was a human faux pas to bring it up in conversation.”

Tony buries his face in his hands. What a disaster.

“I can’t believe you tried to get him to help you woo someone else when you knew he liked you!” Rhodey says, standing at last.

“I assumed since he did not bring it up, it was not serious.”

“Can we please stop talking about me like I’m not here!” Tony interrupts, straightening up. The other two stop arguing, and Tony sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose. “What now?”

Nobody answers for a moment, then Pepper says,

“We can try this arrangement.” The two men look at her, and she gestures between the three of them, drawing a triangle. “I would not be opposed.”

Rhodey and Tony look at each other, startled. “What, like a ménage à trois?” Tony asks.

“I do not know what that is, but it sounds more agreeable than the three of us going our separate ways unsatisfied.”

“You seriously think that could work?” Rhodey glances between the two of them, but he’s not dismissing the idea outright, to Tony’s surprise.

Then again, Tony’s kind of surprised he’s not dismissing the idea either. It’s got a kind of appeal to it, the more he thinks about it. Rhodey’s been his best friend for years, and they’ve always stuck together and had each other’s backs. Kissing him doesn’t sound like a terrible idea too.

“Hey, if anyone can figure out how to make it work, we can,” Tony says with a grin. He goes over and takes a flower from the desk, handing it to Rhodey. “These were half from me anyway, it was my idea.”

Rhodey laughs and takes the flower from him. “They’re lovely,” he tells him, then hands the same flower to Pepper. “And I’d love to try fostering a relationship of that sort.”

Pepper takes the flower more carefully, spinning the stem between her fingers. “That sounds…awesome,” she says, testing the unfamiliar word, and Tony and Rhodey laugh.

Whatever the future has in store, they’ll boldly go toward it together.


End file.
